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Army Spc. Peterson was assigned to C Company, 311th Military Intelligence Battalion, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Kentucky. She died of a non-combat gunshot wound. The incident occurred near the northwest Iraqi town of Tel Afar, about 50 miles southwest of the Turkish border. Alyssa graduated from Northern Arizona University in May 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. During her time there, she also attended the Flagstaff Institute of Religion, a theological training center for members of the Mormon faith. Alyssa was an honor student, soccer player, artist, and devout Mormon. She was fluent in Dutch, then, she cruised through her Arabic courses at the military’s Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, shortly after enlisting in July 2001.